Search results for: “ ”
-
Lord Maginnis Attack On Gay Publication
The outspoken Lord Maginnis yesterday blasted both Stonewall and The Gay UK over his ‘Bigot Of The Year Award’ nomination.
Stonewall announced the nomination at the end of last week. Stonewall describes a bigot as ‘An individual who has gone out of their way to harm, hurt or snub lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the last year.’
At first the former Ulster Unionist, MP mistakenly thought that The Gay UK was nominating him for the award and blasted the LGBT daily magazine – as a ‘perverse pressure group’, ‘aggressive, perverse and corrupting influence on susceptible and vulnerable young people.’
Editor and co-founder of the UK based online magazine, in an exchange of emails, explained that The Gay UK was in fact an organisation that was reaching out to both nominated bigots and heroes for their comment – not inferring that anyone on the list was or is indeed a bigot.
“We’re absolutely outraged to be called a perversion,
‘The very idea that we are corrupting or influencing susceptible young people is perverse in itself. We are a respected organisation with a clear goal, which is to be the mouthpiece for the gay community in the UK and we take it very personally – as should every member of the LGBT community today, as this is tantamount to calling us perverts and potentially worse.’
In June 2012 the Ulster Unionist Party whip was withdrawn from Lord Maginnis by party leader Mike Nesbit over his anti-gay remarks, where Lord Maginnis likened gay marriage to bestiality on Northern Ireland’s Stephen Nolan Show. Lord Maginnis said that gay marriage was, ‘a rung on the ladder’ to ‘other deviant practices’ and ‘Will the next thing be that we legislate for some sort of bestiality?’
The Gay UK called for a public apology from the Lord last night, after it emerged that Lord Maginnis had forwarded private and legally privileged emails to members of the press.
A representative for The Gay UK said,
‘It’s disgusting that in 2012, somebody in a respected position such as a Lord can make these comments about a portion of the community that we aim to represent.
‘An attack on us, is an attack on the gay community at large. Our website is community led by contributions from lesbian and gay writers and today is a sad day.’
‘Even after we had corrected Lord Maginnis that we were not Stonewall or the organisation that were running the Heroes and Bigot award, he replied, “As I neither know you or Stonewall I don’t think it’s for me to sort out the not-so-subtle differences. If you still want a comment my initial response is adequate from my perspective.”.’
Stonewall was not immediately available for comment on Lord Maginnis’s accusation.
-
OPINION | A Cautionary Tale Of The Unpaid Graduate
With graduation out of the way, one has to embrace the step into the ‘big wide world’ (even though I detest the patronising tone of that phrase).
Understandably jobs are difficult to come by, with the back log of graduates who have come out of education in a time of global financial troubles. But the point of this entry is not to radiate this negativity we often hear in our day to day lives. Rather it is an honest attempt to share my own experience; a cautionary tale of the unpaid internship; is it justified?
Personally, I have been there before, graduating in 2008 from a Fine Art degree. I spent 6 months in London, unpaid, financing myself from savings. Days involved jumping from one position to the next, going application crazy hoping to secure some money. The 3 month internship at Aicon Gallery was experience, but in hindsight was it worthwhile experience?
Being given a set of keys to a Regents Street gallery within the first week of the job seemed an honour at the time. Opening up the gallery early before the paid directors arrived, and staying until they decided to go home. Some days consisted of sitting behind the desk answering phones and filing, contrary to the original position of ‘Exhibition Intern’ suggested. Full days without a break. Imagine the ‘Devil Wears Prada’ heart pounding feeling of fear. Fear of doing something wrong or out of place in this pristine white gallery (which was probably the best thing about the job, as it was designed by Caruso St John).
On some occasions I remember eating my lunch which consisted of a spoonful of cottage cheese, with a tomato and half a pepper, as I couldn’t afford to buy food. But it was ok, I was working in an ‘art gallery’ – or so I kept telling myself.
The lowest point was when I did get something wrong, and sent some parcels by courier rather than by post. I was the only extra worker that day, having to man the phone and gallery at all times. The directors were in an ‘all day meeting, not to be contacted’, and at some point I was supposed to have magically doubled myself, and popped off to the post office while staying in charge of the gallery. From that day onwards, one particular individual make it her mission to make my life hell, finding fault in everything I did. But still, I carried on as a nervous, under fed, unpaid graduate. Not exactly the experience I was hoping to get.
I would certainly be reluctant to jump at the chance of unpaid work again. And I disagree that all experience is good experience.
A point came last year when I needed a reference. I asked the gallery for one, surely the least they could have done for someone who worked incredibly hard for them without pay. ‘The reply was, just write one yourself and I will sign it’.
It strikes me that being able to say you have work experience under your belt to a potential employer can hide the substance of what was actually learnt during that placement. This is the difficulty I am having again, this time as an Architecture graduate. I have no experience in an architects practice, as I had to seek paid work during my summers to afford to continue studying. And surely the point of the Part 1 placement year is to gain experience, and not to be declined because of the lack of.
I take my stance a little more cautious this time, seeking paid work only. Over the past month I have been offered two more internships, one in Denmark, and the other in Paris. The Paris internship offered 419 euro per month, barely enough to cover rent. The fact is, I would not be able to support myself financially whilst undertaking such a position. Both positions were declined, with a hint of satisfaction.
Surely it says something about the ethics of a firm who offer unpaid work in the first place. It is making a disgrace out of the profession. This is not ok.
But what is one to do when there is little option of work, either succumb to the fact of gaining some kind of experience for no money, or stick it out for the foreseeable future in hope of a paid position?
I do not believe internships to be justified for a lengthy period. It takes advantage of skilled graduates or individuals who are determined to make a career for themselves. We have the ability to learn, and learn fast. Being thrown in at the deep end and having to learn the ropes is indeed a valuable suggestion. I am often alarmed when looking at architecture internships, the stipulations the companies require. For example, proficiency in a lengthy variety of packages, the ability to speak fluent Japanese, 3 years experience in housing, etc. I am also appalled at individuals who wouldn’t stop and question their cost of their free labour. By accepting an unpaid placement makes a suggestion that you agree working for free is acceptable, with someone else benefitting from your efforts. With the expectations of what an intern can do increasing, this means that companies now have a choice of highly skilled candidates to chose from.
So what can be done about this? I am an avid fan of ‘Don’t just complain, do something about it’. There is a UK government petition,
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14143
that I would ask you all to sign and be a part of. Let’s help to make this wrong doing illegal, so that everyone benefits in the future.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
-
Rylan Faces Homophobic Tweets
The judges of the X Factor caused controversy and a social media meltdown yesterday when they announced that contestant Rylan Clark would be going through to the next round – the all important judges’ houses; causing the Essex wannabe’s name to trend worldwide last night.
Many users took to micro-social media site Twitter to vent their outrage.
Reality Starlet Mille Mackintosh from Made In Chelsea wrote:‘just had to turn the tv down #xfactor #rylan’
User @jaymeatsix said:
‘Absolutely dreadful decision to put that Rylan Clark through!!’
And @hannthewanted Tweeted:
‘Yeah but Rylan is a novelty act compared to everybody else talent.’
Rylan who appeared in last night’s show in ‘Spikes and Sparkles’ sang his own club version of Pussycat Dolls’ song ‘Don’t Cha’.
Gary Barlow who is an outspoken critic of Rylan was not moved by the blonde turned brunette, when the openly gay hunk said:“This is my only chance to show you guys what I’m all about… I’m not a Whitney wannabe’
A fair amount of homophobic abuse was hurled at him via the site, with user @KyleHankins tweeting:
‘That f**king rylan only got through because he’s gay and louis fancies him #queerc**ts’
And @DaleRawlings7
‘People wonder why were sometimes harsh to gay ppl [sic] then idiots like rylan clarke [sic] come on TV’
Whilst @craigmaiden22
XFactor is Corrupt I’m hearing Rylan (fake made up gay homo name) got through, who wants to find him and kill him ?!
Rylan has tweeted in the past that he had be dealing with death threats since appearing on ITV’s flagship show – but said:
‘It’s all part of the fun.’
An X Factor spokesperson said:
‘We are looking into the matter.’
X Factor continues next Saturday at 8.10PM
-
COLUMN: Coming Out Again
I came out when I was a teenager and once the tension of the event passed I found that I quite enjoyed it.
-
FILM REVIEW: Four More Years
David is a Swedish politician with a stellar career ahead of him.
He’s also a bit of a silver fox and cuts a fine figure in a business suit. After an unexpected political defeat leaves him feeling adrift, he bumps into fellow politician Martin and the two quickly fall in love. This isn’t the usual romantic comedy though. David is from a strict Baptist family, straight and married. Martin is openly gay and a senior politician for the opposing party. It’s a relationship fraught with issues.
The film is a gentle comedy which follows the men through a series of turbulent events and the usual misunderstandings and mix-ups. The humour is subtle, rather than raucous, and the film is beautifully compiled with artful shots and stylish views. What raises the film above the romantic comedy genre is the quirky way it deals with him being gay.
Interestingly, the film doesn’t portray David’s sexuality as a major problem; more of a shock to him. The scene where his wife reflects on him being gay is hilarious and unexpected. Instead the film concentrates more on what it means to fall in love with someone who you aren’t supposed to fall in love with.
Overall the film was actually quite touching and the three main characters were likeable and engaging. This is definitely a film which leaves you feeling a bit better about the world. Recommended for a rainy autumnal afternoon.
-
Rylan And Lucy Through To The Next Round
Last night’s episode of X Factor saw over a third of hopefuls axed from the show – even before they had the chance to sing in front of the judges.
-
INTERVIEW: Scott Mills
BBC Radio One’s award winning DJ Scott Mills, came out in 2001 telling the Guardian that he “would like to be accepted as a normal bloke who is gay and is on the radio and television.”
(C) BBC – Photographer: Ray Burmiston The Gay UK’s Domenico Sansalone sits down over tea with Mills to discuss his recently published autobiography Love You Bye and discovers why this normal bloke loves Rihanna but hates Paris (the city, not Hilton).
TGUK: What inspired you to write your autobiography?
SM: A publisher came to me a year and a half ago and said, “do you want to do a book?” Initially, I said no because I just thought you see so many autobiographies out there and you think why have they done that, they’re 10? He said to me to go away and think about it and I did and I kind of collated a few little stories and thought there’s some quite good ones and quite a lot has happened. You don’t realise until you stop and think about it, how much has happened. So eventually, I said yes.
TGUK: How full on was writing the book?
SM: I wouldn’t do it again! I found it quite hard to write a book. The original one that I wrote, I showed to Radio One and they were like, no it’s crap. So that kinda knocked my confidence a bit. Then I decided to re-write the whole thing and I had about two weeks to go until the deadline. So I just decided to write it in the way that I would speak and from there it was one hundred percent better. It’s good now because there are some funny bits. Now it sounds like me but I found the whole thing a bit of a head f**k.
TGUK: So you’re not going to pull a Jordan or Geri Halliwell and write multiple autobiographies?
SM: Jordan’s done loads, like seriously? I remember, she came into the studio to do my show one time and she had just released the latest one of many Jordan books and I asked her as a bit of a joke to read some excerpts from it. Luckily for her it wasn’t live. She was going ‘and then I slept with him and it was great” and then she’d say “see I wouldn’t have written that” and I’m thinking sorry I thought you’d written that yourself!
I love that Geri Halliwell has had enough to say to write two. I love her! She’s proper mental, isn’t she?
TGUK: Did you read any other celebrity autobiographies as research?
SM: Yes, I did. I’ve often been guilty of reading them anyway because I love a bit of trash. Do I want to read Sharon Osbourne’s book? Yes, I do! I’ve been on a lot of planes and read a lot of good ones. I thought Chris Evans was really good. I find people that have got something to say and have done stuff are more interesting than reading a book about, no offense, an X Factor winner, because that’s not that interesting to me. One Direction will look back and think I wish I hadn’t written that book.
TGUK: Have your friends and family read the book yet?
SM: They have. I found that the weirdest part. I was less worried about my friends reading it because they actually know a lot about it but there are some stuff in there that I don’t think I have ever told my mum about. I’m kind of dreading ringing my dad because I think he’s just read it and there’s nothing bad in it but there is some stuff that he might be uncomfortable with. I’ll make that call later…
TGUK: What did your boyfriend think?
SM: I think it was quite difficult for him to read about ex-lovers. I think to read it, as the current boyfriend, is quite hard. So yeah, he was a bit funny about that. I fully prepared him but there is a lot to think about.
TGUK: So no wedding plans yet?
SM: It’s not that I’m against it, I just can’t imagine myself getting married. I don’t know why? It’s not that I would never do it. I actually think that if I saw a couple other [gay weddings] then I would think, okay I get it now. It’s just I can’t visualise it in my head.
TGUK: Rupert Everett upset a lot of people recently by saying he can’t imagine anything worse then two men raising a child together. What are your views on that?
SM: I don’t know why he said that? I wouldn’t expect him to say that. The more my life goes on, I can imagine children more than getting married. I’m really good with kids.
(C) BBC – Photographer: Ray Burmiston TGUK: Speaking of celebrities, who has been your favourite celebrity to interview?
SM: I actually think, Rihanna. She works f**king hard. I’ve interviewed her more than most in the last three years and every time she’s always incredibly professional. She always has something new to say and something interesting to say every time. I have a girl crush on Rihanna.
TGUK: What male celebrity do you have a crush on?
SM: Ryan Gosling, I’m crushing on him a bit.
TGUK: Who would you like to interview that you haven’t yet?
SM: Madonna, I think she would f**king eat you alive. I think I want to do it whether it’s enjoyable or not just to say that I’ve done it. One of my friends said that Madonna told her, “you’re going to have to do better than that,” after she asked her first question. I’ve spoken to several people who have interviewed her and they said it was horrendous.
TGUK: Our previous interviewee, Patricia Kaas wanted to ask you what you think about Paris?
SM: I’ve been and I absolutely hated it. I know that everyone is like, it’s beautiful and it’s the most romantic place in the world. I don’t get it? I don’t understand why it is? I find it confusing and expensive and not pleasant to be in.
TGUK: We also have some questions from our readers. Do you have any dating tips?
SM: Hilarious! I don’t think I have ever really been on a date. That’s not true, I went on a blind date once, which was the worse idea ever. You know when your straight friends go, “you two are both gay you’ll be great together!” I had this awkward date with this guy where we literally just sat at this restaurant and I was trying my hardest to make conversation and I had nothing to say at all. We had nothing in common. So I don’t really have dating advice because I don’t really feel like I’ve been on a date.
TGUK: How did you meet your boyfriend?
SM: I met my boyfriend through friends, which is much easier.
TGUK: You talk in the book about your struggles with anxiety and alcohol. How have you gotten through some of the darkest periods of your life?
SM: I seem to have this inbuilt thing of just being able to carry on. That’s a really hard question. With the depression and stuff, it helps to talk to people who have had that as well because it’s actually quite comforting. Sometimes you feel like you’re the only person in the world that has that. So I’ve found that talking to people you trust is the easiest thing and most comforting thing.
TGUK: Can you come back to Southampton?
SM: I’m actually going this week. I’ll be signing the book at Waterstone’s West Quay. I have to say the gay scene there is awful. I mean seriously, they had a club and they shut it down.
TGUK: You’re in pretty good shape but you struggled with your weight in the past. How did you turn that around?
SM: I was never really bothered about it and then suddenly I became really bothered about it. I think it was when I moved to London and I just realised that there weren’t as many fat people. In my early twenties, I went from being really fat and then went completely the other way and went on loads of weird diets and now I just want to be healthy and look all right and not feel big.
TGUK: Now that you have started doing more television, are you suddenly more aware of your appearance?
SM: Massively. I do a fair bit of TV and because I am my own worse critic and I’ve seen myself on TV a couple years ago and I thought, f**k I wouldn’t have put myself on TV looking like that!
TGUK: One of our readers called you so handsome so the boy-next-door look is working for you. Now that you’ve published your autobiography, what’s next?
SM: I’m busy hosting my Radio 1 show and I’m also in talks to do a documentary about gay bullying. There is so much [bullying] happening with Twitter, it will be interesting to take a look at that.
Scott Mills autobiography Love You Bye is on sale now. Scott Mills is also on BBC Radio 1 weekdays from 1PM – 4PM
-
Pep Talk From JLS For Hopeful X Factor Contestants
They may have made it through to the X FACTOR’s infamous bootcamp, but a third of the 211 wannabe X Factor winners who impressed the judges from the first round of auditions will be sent home in this evening’s episode, even before they get to perform again.
-
Tara McDonald To Sing At The Riverside Tavern
‘My My My’ superstar Tara McDonald is set to appear at The Riverside Tavern in Kent on the 29th September.
-
Paris Hilton Is “Sorry” for Disgusting AIDS Jibe
Damage control is going into overtime at the Paris Hilton camp today as she released a statement to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD).
Yesterday’s revelations from Radaronline.com revealed a recorded slam by the reality star heiress saying gay men were “disgusting” and “probably had AIDS”, when the friend she was sharing a cab with showed her the gay dating App Grindr.
Paris said in her statement:
“I am so sorry and so upset that I caused pain to my gay friends, fans and their families,” Hilton said in part of a lengthy apology she released to the the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD.) “Gay people are the strongest and most inspiring people I know.”
Hilton’s publicist, in a statement sent to CNN Thursday, confirmed the recording was authentic but said,
“It was not her intent to make any derogatory comments about all gays.”
“Paris Hilton is a huge supporter of the gay community and would never purposefully make any negative statements about anyone’s sexual orientation,” the statement said.
Hilton said the tape captured a conversation that was supposed to be private.
“I was having this private conversation with a friend of mine who is gay and our conversation was in no way towards the entire gay community,” her statement said. “It is the last thing that I would ever want to do and I cannot put into words how much I wish I could take back every word.”
